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The Adventure of the Three Gables
"The Adventure of the Three Gables' is a Sherlock Holmes short story by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It first appeared in print in the September 18, 1926 issue of Liberty magazine in the United States and in the October issue of The Strand magazine in the United Kingdom. It was republished in June 1927 as part of the anthology The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. In the story, the brilliant consulting detective Sherlock Holmes receives a request for help from an elderly woman named Mary Maberley who lives in a house called the Three Gables. Holmes only because truly interested in Mrs. Maberley's case after a hired thug, a black man named Steve Dixie, is sent to threaten him not to get involved in it. On arrival at the Three Gables, Holmes finds out that Mrs. Maberley has recently been approached by a man, who gave his name as Haimes-Johnson, who said that he was acting on behalf of someone who wanted to buy her house and all of its contents. Mrs. Maberley turned down the offer when she found out that she would not be allowed to remove anything at all from the house when she left it, not even her own clothes. Holmes suspects that Haimes-Johnson's mysterious client wants something valuable which, unknown to her, has recently come into Mrs. Maberley's possession. This suspicion appears to be borne out when there is a robbery at the Three Gables.The only items that are taken are from trunks that arrived a few days earlier which contain the personal effects of Mrs. Maberley's recently deceased son. Many modern readers are likely to be offended by the description and characterization of Steve Dixie as well as by the manner in which Holmes speaks to him. Readers should be aware that "The Adventure of the Three Gables" contains one instance of use of a highly offensive racial epiphet. "The Adventure of the Three Gables" has been adapted for radio and television. Plot One morning, a large black man bursts into the apartment which Sherlock Holmes shares with his friend Dr. Watson. The man threatens Holmes by telling him to, "keep your hands out of other folks' business", and shoving his huge fist under the detective's nose. The man loses most of his bluster when Holmes continues to show that he is not afraid and when he hears Watson pick up a poker. Holmes recognizes the man as Steve Dixie the boxer. Holmes knows that Dixie is guilty of the murder of a young man named Perkins. Dixie denies this and claims that he was elsewhere when the murder took place. Holmes goes on to say that he knows Dixie is a member of the criminal gang led by Barney Stockdale. At this point, Dixie, who realizes that Holmes could pass on information about him to the police, apologizes to Holmes and wants to leave. Before he allows Dixie to go, Holmes demands to know who sent him. Dixie says that the aforementioned Barney Stockdale told him to warn Holmes to stay away from the Harrow case. He adds that he does not know who gave the message to Stockdale. Holmes tells Watson about the case to which Steve Dixie was referring. That morning, Holmes received a letter from Mary Maberley who lives in a house called the Three Gables in Harrow. Holmes had provided some assistance to Mrs. Maberley's late husband Mortimer many years earlier. In her letter, Mrs. Maberley says that she would like Holmes' advice regarding some unusual incidents connected to her house which have recently taken place. Holmes and Watson leave for Harrow immediately. On arrival at the Three Gables, Holmes tells Mary Maberley that he remembers her late husband well. She comments that he and Watson are probably more familiar with her recently deceased son Douglas Maberley. Douglas Maberley had been working as a diplomat in Italy. He died of pneumonia in Rome the previous month. Mary Maberley comments that, in the final months of his life, her son became a "moody, morose, brooding creature" and a "worn-out cynical man". She believes that this may have been the result of a failed friendship or love affair. Mrs. Maberley explains why she has asked for Holmes' advice. She had been living in the Three Gables for almost two years without being disturbed in any way. Three days earlier, a man whose business card said that he was "Haimes-Johnson, Auctioneer and Valuer" but did not give an address, came to the house. He said that he was acting on behalf of a client who wanted to buy the house and all of its furniture. He added that money was no object for his client and that Mrs. Maberley could name her price. Since she wanted to leave the house and spend the rest of her life traveling, Mrs. Maberley agreed to the offer. Haimes-Johnson gave Mrs. Maberley a contract which she showed to her lawyer Mr. Sutro. Mr. Sutro pointed out that the contract stated that Mrs. Maberley agreed to sell the house and all of its contents, including her clothes and jewelry. When Haimes-Johnson returned, Mrs. Maberley told him that she could not agree to those terms and no longer wanted to sell the house. Haimes-Johnson left and Mrs. Maberley has not seen him since. However, she continues to feel troubled by the experience. Sherlock Holmes realizes that somebody is eavesdropping when he hears the sound of heavy breathing coming from behind a door. He opens the door and finds Mrs. Maberley's maid Susan. Mrs. Maberley says that it was Susan who posted her letter to Holmes. She adds that Susan was recently seen talking to someone over the hedge. Holmes asks Susan if that person was Barney Stockdale. Her response, "Well, if you know, what do you need to ask for?" tells him that it was. Holmes offers to pay Susan ten pounds if she will tell him who Barney Stockdale is working for. She answers that it is, "Someone who could lay down a thousand pounds for every ten you have in the world." When Holmes comments that Barney is working for a rich man, Susan smiles, thereby informing Holmes that it is not a rich man but a rich woman. Susan refuses to give any further information or to stay in Mrs. Maberley's service any longer. She leaves the house and slams the door. Holmes says that Barney Stockdale's mysterious employer wants to buy something valuable that is inside the house. He thinks that it is unlikely that the house's previous owner, a retired sea captain, buried any treasure in it because people now have bank accounts instead of burying treasure. He asks Mrs. Maberley if she has a painting by Raphael or a first edition of the complete works of William Shakespeare. She replies that she does not have anything of very great value. Holmes goes on to say that, anyway, somebody could easily offer to buy from Mrs. Maberley something valuable which she knows she has in her possession. Consequently, the mysterious rich woman must want to buy something valuable which Mrs. Maberley does not know that she has in her possession and which she would not sell if she knew its value. Since Mrs. Maberley has lived in the Three Gables for nearly two years but it was only three days ago that somebody first offered to buy the house and its contents, the object must have come into Mary Maberley's possession recently. Mrs. Maberley responds that she has not bought any new furniture for a year. As Holmes and Watson are about to leave the Three Gables, Holmes notices some trunks with labels on them which show that they have been sent from Italy. Mrs. Maberley says that they contain her late son's personal effects and that they arrived the previous week. She thinks that it is unlikely that they contain anything valuable because her son did not earn much money. Holmes advises her to take the trunks up to her bedroom and examine their contents. He says that he will return the next day to find out what was in the trunks. He advises Mrs. Maberley to get her lawyer Mr. Sutro to stay the night for her protection. After leaving the house, Holmes and Watson see Steve Dixie in the street. Not wanting to be reported to the police for the murder of Perkins, Dixie is now prepared to help Sherlock Holmes in any way he can. Unfortunately, he genuinely does not know the identity of the mysterious rich woman who has employed the services of Barney Stockdale, Leaving Watson at home, Holmes spends the rest of the day getting information from Langdale Pike, the famous gossip-columnist. The following morning, a telegram from Mr. Sutro arrives at Holmes and Watson's apartment. It states that there has been a burglary at the Three Gables. When Holmes and Watson arrive at the house, Mrs. Maberley tells Holmes that she ignored his advice and did not ask Mr. Sutro to stay the night. A police inspector is there. He tells Holmes that there is no real mystery behind the burglary. It was obviously committed by Barney Stockdale and his gang, who have been seen in the area recently. Although Mrs. Maberley has already given a statement to the police inspector, she is perfectly prepared to give another one to Holmes. Mrs. Maberley says that the burglars knew the layout of the house well, meaning that they were probably helped by Susan. She briefly saw two men in her bedroom, before she was knocked out with a rag soaked in chloroform. When she came to, she saw one of the men taking something from one of her son's trunks. She bravely ran at the man and grabbed him. The second man struck her and knocked her out again. She managed, however, to get one piece of paper from the first man. The piece of paper has the late Douglas Maberley's handwriting on it. The police inspector says that he believes it is the last page of a novel. The writing describes a man who is attacked, leaving his face cut and bloody. He looks up and sees the face of the woman he loves. She is smiling at his pain. At that point, the man stops loving the woman and starts hating her. Holmes notices that the author suddenly switches from using "he" to using "I", suggesting that he identifies very strongly with the protagonist of his novel. Before he and Watson leave, Holmes asks Mrs. Maberley if she still wants to travel and where she would like to go. She replies that, if she had enough money, she would like to travel around the world. Holmes tells Watson that they are going to see Isadora Klein. On the way to her house, Holmes explains who Isadora Klein is. Isadora Klein was once a famous beauty. She is of Spanish descent and her family has controlled a region of Latin America for many years. A brief marriage to the "aged sugar king, Klein" left Isadora Klein a very wealthy widow. Douglas Maberley was one of her many lovers. When Isadora Klein tires of her lovers, she heartlessly drops them. If former lovers continue to pursue her, Isadora Klein is not averse to having them scared away. Watson realizes that Douglas Maberley wrote a novel based on his experiences with Isadora Klein. Holmes adds that Isadora Klein is engaged to the Duke of Lomond, a man much younger than she is. The Duke of Lomond's family are prepared to overlook the difference in age. They would be less likely to overlook the scandal which would be brought about by the publication of Douglas Maberley's novel about Klein. A footman initially refuses to allow Holmes and Watson to go inside Isadora Klein's house. They are allowed to enter after Holmes gets the footman to send his mistress a note which reads, "Shall it be the police then?" Holmes and Watson are shown into "an Arabian Nights drawing room, vast and wonderful in a half gloom, picked out with an occasional pink electric light". Watson speculates that the former famous beauty Isadora Klein is now of an age at which she looks better in half light. At first, Klein denies having anything to do with the events at the Three Gables or sending thugs to intimidate Holmes. When Holmes once again threatens to go to the police, she makes a full confession. Isadora Klein says that Douglas Maberley was a "dear boy" but that their relationship had to come to an end because he wanted to marry her. She did not want to marry him because he did not have much money and did not have a title. When he continued to pursue her, she hired Barney Stockdale and some of his gang members to beat him up. Douglas Maberley wrote a novel about his relationship with Isadora Klein. Although he gave the characters different names, all of London would recognize Klein in the book. He sent one copy of the novel to Klein and said that the other would be sent to a publisher. Isadora Klein found out that Douglas Maberley did not send the novel off for publication before his death, meaning that it was still among his personal effects which were sent to his mother. Klein points out that she tried to get hold of the manuscript of the novel without resorting to crime but that did not work. She has now burned the manuscript. Isadora Klein is not worried about being betrayed by the criminals she has hired. Susan, who is Barney Stockdale's wife, and Barney Stockdale himself are the only members of the gang who know her identity. They will eventually be arrested for the burglary at the Three Gables and go to prison for it. They are loyal to Klein and will not mention her name in court. Holmes sees no need to tell the police about Isadora Klein. Instead, he asks her to pay him five thousand pounds, enough to allow Mrs. Maberley to travel around the world first-class. He warns Klein that she is in danger of getting in serious trouble with the law if she does not change her ways. Adaptations "The Adventure of the Three Gables" was adapted as the first episode of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, the fourth and final Granada TV Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett. It was first shown on the ITV network in the United Kingdom on March 7, 1994. The episode differs from the original short story in numerous ways. The illness which kills Douglas Maberley (who is described as being Mary Maberley's grandson rather than her son) is brought about as a direct result of the beating which he receives on Isadora Klein's orders. For that reason, in Douglas Maberley's manuscript, (which is called an autobiography rather than a novel) he accuses Isadora Klein of murder. After having made her full confession to Holmes, Isadora Klein is not only persuaded to pay for Mrs. Maberley's voyage around the world but also agrees to break off her engagement to the Duke of Lomond and to leave England forever and go to live in Spain. "The Adventure of the Blue Polar Bear" (Japanese: 青いシロクマの冒険; Aoi shirokuma no bōken), the fifteenth episode of the Japanese TV series Sherlock Holmes Puppet Entertainment (Japanese: シャーロック ホームズ]), is an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Three Gables" and "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle". It first aired on NHK on January 25, 2015. It features Isadora Klein as the leader of a gang of female juvenile delinquents. A radio adaptation of "The Adventure of the Three Gables", starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom on October 12, 1994. In the adaptation, the gossip-columnist Langdale Pike is a former classmate of Holmes. Langdale Pike is a pseudonym. The writer's real name is Clarence Gable. Holmes gets the idea to ask his old friend for information when he is reminded of him by the name of the house the Three Gables. After Holmes threatens to pass on information that he has about him to the police, Pike reluctantly agrees to accompany Holmes and Watson to the home of Isadora Klein. It is Pike who gives Watson all of the information about Klein which is provided by Holmes in the original short story. Although Holmes does not tell the police about Klein, she will be punished nevertheless. Pike, whom Isadora Klein does not recognize and mistakes for Holmes' lawyer, is present when Klein makes her full confession. Pike will write all about it in his gossip column which will be published the next day. Consequently, Isadora Klein's marriage to the Duke of Lomond will never take place. In the 1974 Sherlock Holmes novel The Seven Per-Cent Solution by the American author Nicholas Meyer, Dr. Watson dismisses "The Adventure of the Three Gables" as "drivel" and denies having written it. He claims that it is one of four Sherlock Holmes stories, the other three being "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane", "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" and "The Adventure of the Creeping Man', that are complete forgeries. External links *Text of "The Adventure of the Three Gables" on the website of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The story is in the public domain in Singapore but is still under copyright in the United States. *Quotations from "The Adventure of the Three Gables" on Wikiquote. *"The Adventure of the Three Gables" on Baker Street wiki. Category:Detective Category:Mystery Category:Short Stories Category:Famous Category:Classic